A Century Old “Heartbeat Bill” in the Philippines

By Darlene Adoremos

Earlier this May, the US signed a law called the “heartbeat bill” according to BBC News that the
"Heartbeat bill", seek to make abortion illegal as soon as a fetus' heartbeat is detectable. In most cases,
this is at the six-week mark of a pregnancy - before many women even know they are pregnant. This law
has no exceptions for rape or incest.

But being here in the Philippines there are facts on abortion you should know about that are similar to
“Hearbeat bill”.

Abortion is considered illegal, the criminal provisions on abortion do not contain any exceptions allowing
abortion. Including to save the life of the pregnant woman or to protect her health. For over a century,
the criminalization of abortions has not prevented abortions. But instead has made the procedure
unsafe and potentially deadly for over half a million women each year who try to terminate their
pregnancies.

Physicians and midwives who perform abortion with the consents of a pregnant woman may face up to
Six years jail time. This criminal punishment supplemented by separate laws that prescribe sanctions for
a range of medical professionals and health doctors. If the medical professionals and health doctors are
caught performing abortions or dispensing abortifacient their license can be revoked. Women who
undergo abortion for any reason maybe punished by imprisonment for two to six years.

Due to the lack of access to safe abortion, Filipino Women have a high risk of engaging through unsafe
abortion or continuation of high-risk pregnancies. Poor women are vulnerable to unsafe abortion and its
complications. As they face obstructions in obtaining effective means of family planning.

Because of the little knowledge about abortion, Filipino women face the stigma who undergone unsafe
abortion. Healthcare workers are unwilling to provide care or only treat women after “punishing”
women who have undergone abortions by threatening to report them to police, or harassing women
verbally, physically or delaying care.

Even having these facts, there is group who support women to their decisions. This group call
themselves Pro-choice who contend that choosing abortion is a woman’s right hat should not be limited
by governmental or religious authority, and which outweighs any right claimed for an embryo or fetus.

While the other group is a Pro-life which means that individual human life begins at fertilization, and
therefore abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent human being. They say abortion inflicts suffering
on the unborn child, and that it is unfair to allow abortion when couples who cannot biologically
conceive are waiting to adopt.